Impounded vehicles meant for Uber service, (center), are parked behind a police cordon line at a police station in Hong Kong on May 23, 2017. (AP)

HONG KONG, July 16, (AP): The Hong Kong government on Tuesday unveiled proposals to regulate online ride-hailing services provided by tech companies like Uber, requiring platforms, cars and drivers to be licensed before hitting the road. In a document sent to the legislature, transport officials said those companies applying for a license would need to have business registration and an office in the city.

They also said the platforms would have to fulfill certain conditions on operating experience, proof of financial capability and capital investment, in addition to ensuring the cars and drivers working for them already purchased the required insurance. Under the licensing plans, eligible drivers must have held a private car driving license for at least one year and have no serious traffic convictions within five years.

The drivers also need to pass a test and complete training. Officials plan to set a quota on the number of vehicles allowed to be run under the policy, adding that the cars cannot be over seven years old and have to pass an annual inspection. Currently, it is illegal for drivers of private vehicles to provide paid services to customers without a permit.

Police have arrested some Uber drivers suspected of driving without a permit in the past and in 2018, more than two dozen drivers were fined. Uber, which started operating in Hong Kong in 2014, has faced multiple legal and regulatory challenges in its overseas expansion but remains popular in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, where many residents are frustrated with poor taxi services.

Some taxi companies have long resisted online platforms like Uber, seeing them as a threat to their business. Hong Kong leader John Lee said the legislative framework would need to ensure the co-existence of online ride-hailing services and traditional taxi services. Transport officials could first handle issues with consensus and set up the framework before focusing on other controversial technical problems, Lee said.

“I agree the problem is complicated but it should not be further delayed,” he said. In the document, the government said it would consider charging the platforms fees to provide resources for supporting the taxi industry in improving its service quality. It also suggested the companies allow taxi drivers to offer services through their platforms. Officials aimed to propose the changes in the third quarter of the year to set out matters in principle first. They planned to suggest further legal amendments for other issues in the first half of 2026.   

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between US dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on July 16. (AP)

BANGKOK, July 16, (AP): Shares in Asia traded mixed on Wednesday after an update on U.S. inflation pulled most Wall Street stocks lower, though gains for Nvidia pushed the Nasdaq to another record. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged less than 0.1% lower, to 39,663.40. Investors are focusing on the potential impact of an election for the Upper House of Parliament on Sunday that is expected to lead to tax cuts and higher spending as lawmakers try to restore the waning popularity of the ruling Liberal Democrats.

Worries over a deterioration in Japan’s fiscal health have pushed yields of long-term Japanese government bonds to their highest levels in years. “What’s at stake isn’t simply which party hands out the biggest bundle of goodies. It’s whether the walls holding up Japan’s house of debt can withstand another round of fiscal fireworks…” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1% to 24,618.23 while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1% to 3,503.78. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9% to 3,186.38 and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.8% to 8,561.80. Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 0.9% and India’s Sensex was flat. Thailand’s SET also was little changed. In Jakarta, shares rose 0.4% after President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he plans to tariff imports from Indonesia at 19%, while American goods sent to the Southeast Asian country will face no tariffs.

Trump also said Indonesia committed to buying U.S. energy, agricultural products and aircraft. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 6,243.76, but stayed near its all-time high set last week, as 90% of the stocks within the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% to 44,023.29. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to a record 20,677.80 thanks to Nvidia, the market’s most influential stock.

Nvidia said the U.S. government has assured it that licenses will be granted for its H20 chip, used for artificial intelligence, again and that deliveries will hopefully begin soon. Its 4% gain was by far the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500. Stocks of big U.S. banks were mixed following their latest profit reports. JPMorgan Chase slipped 0.7% despite reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected, as CEO Jamie Dimon warned of risks to the economy because of tariffs and other concerns.  

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media after arriving at Joint Base Andrews on July 15, in Joint Base Andrews, Md, as Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, (left), Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, (right), look on. (AP)

WASHINGTON, July 16, (AP): US President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he plans to place tariffs of over 10% on smaller countries, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean. “We’ll probably set one tariff for all of them,” Trump said, adding that it could be “a little over 10% tariff” on goods from at least 100 nations.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interjected that the nations with goods being taxed at these rates would be in Africa and the Caribbean, places that generally do relatively modest levels of trade with the U.S. and would be relatively insignificant for addressing Trump’s goals of reducing trade imbalances with the rest of the world.

The president had this month been posting letters to roughly two dozen countries and the European Union that simply levied a tariff rate to be charged starting Aug. 1. Those countries generally faced tax rates on the goods close to the April 2 rates announced by the U.S. president, whose rollout of historically high import taxes for the US.caused financial markets to panic and led to Trump setting a 90-day negotiating period that expired July 9.

Trump also said he would “probably” announce tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs at the “end of the month.” The president said he would start out at a lower tariff rate and give companies a year to build domestic factories before they faced higher import tax rates. Trump said computer chips would face a similar style of tariffs.